Energy Work....

One of the last times I roundpenned my horse it was pretty disastrous.... we had bad chemistry, he reared, and I got scared and cried, bugged my trainer, scared my horse, just really screwed up.... so I quit.... wow, she's a quitter..... no.... I quit to take like the 20 steps back I needed to take to get myself under control so there was ZERO emotion when I worked with Oliver the next time... to figure out why he was pawing and rearing and what was wrong with our communication. .... Steve, my awesome trainer, steveboyleshorsemanship.com, an advocate of every good trainer, told me I didn't trust the horse and I was lying to him.. and he left for the day..... we talked about it later and then we broke up.... it's been great.... since I intend to be in lessons with him forever, in one way or another, I separated myself from him for now.... I asked him to ride my horse for me and I have been working with Oliver alone by myself.... in the roundpen.... first I watched Chris Irwin's tapes about how to get started.... he was not one of those horses that runs round scared around the outside, he is one of the horses that is already in your pocket. He generally gets pretty close and we were having face to face conversations.... so I had to turn his away from me to even get any forward motion...... I had to also really watch my adrenaline and that I was calm or my energy would cause him to jump on me. ... so I even had to slow down more sometimes... go back to grooming, or just being with Oliver, intently realizing his size, his energy, his willfullness.... then after I was no longer afraid of him, I had to find the right energy tool... some people swing a rope... some people use a whip... I use a whip with a bag on the end of it to create some drama for him or he will just stand and stare and is not fazed at all..... I don't use this tool to scare him, but to ask him to move forward..... as soon as he takes a few steps I leave him be..... slowly but surely we have gotten into a good coversation about going around the roundpen instead of facing me and trying to rear up..... when a horse turns and looks at you all the time, there is a tendency maybe to look back at him.... when I was looking at Oliver and pushing him forward he was rearing.... as soon as I learned to look at his hip and not his head, which Chris Irwin explained to me, I had a horse that no longer reared up..... getting out of the roundpen and watching videos, practicing my energy, grooming my horse to learn about his energy, and learning about his dominance level, spending time with him to get to know him got me back into the roundpen.... mostly, again, it was all about working on me.... :) It is really hot here in southern california and dusty.... so I'm glad we have sprinklers in our area so we can play in the water.... Oliver try and turn things into games.... so our roundpenning is for communication more than anything.... and to learn more about how to move around each other... so we'll be out in the sprinklers guys.... Have a good day with your horses!! Jen

I'm so sorry to hear about your day...have you watched the Language of the Lunge videos? There are quite a few placements in our body that actually prevents forward movement. I know Asia is VERY sensitive to body placement...even if I have a hip slightly cocked she'll interpret it as the wrong energy. I, also, use a lunge whip...if she absolutely plants her feet, I lowly cast the whip at her flank which typically prompts movement.

I got reprimanded a little from Steve my trainer.. he said I can't use my bag anymore on the end of the stick. It was causing Oliver to be afraid out on the trail of everything white.... I felt so bad.... but I also doubted his concern..... I disagree with him I guess it is... but he's the one riding the youngin so I complied and took the bag off the end of my stick... I tied bale twine on the end and made a great whip that I am really good at using.... Oliver does not care about it at all and will not move, even with my exquisite requests.. I started crying this morning. I am back to ZERO forward movement..... no more games, or anything that we were doing.... he was even starting to follow it. I have no idea why he is all wiggy now but my bag on the end of my stick got taken away from me..... and I'm back to square one... my horse will not move his feet. :(

Hi Carol.... Thanks again for your help.... Chris also helped me learn to not look at Olivers head when I was asking for forward movement... that cured the rearing..... he is so awesome to put up free videos to help people like me.... his unselfishness is a blessing to me. :)

Hey Jennifer~ I'm glad to hear you didn't give up on your horse... It sounds like you just need to understand how he reads your body language. Horses are prey animals as you know and we're predators, when we work with our horses in a non threatening way they relax and are trainable. It's amazing how a slight adjustment in your waist (belly button) and shoulders can mean night or day to our equine friends.

To better understand watch free videos of Chris Irin's round penning videos, it will open your eyes to a brand new harmonious world. I teach riding lessons and use his methods; my students have had amazing results. He offers lots of videos on several topics from stall work to riding correctly with quiet hands and a balanced seat. You can watch his amazing videos at www.statelinetack.com click on video gallery then choose your topic.

I hope this will help you gain your horses respect and confidence both on the ground and under saddle... Happy trails... =)

I belong to a Networking group and truthfully as a business group for me it is lame.... I'm a mortgage lender so I've been in business a long time... I like the networking group for something to do I guess, and once in a while I get thrown a bone... :) The best part about my group was becoming friends with Sara Fogan, She is a hynotherapist that works with equestrians as a specialty.... She and I have worked throug some of my confidence issues and I love having someone to hynotize me... First we worked on calming the first time I went "under"... Sara gave me a grounding signal to remind me to calm down and breathe when I get stressed or scared around my horses...... the next time she hypnotized me we worked on confidence..... my subconcious was saying I don't do enough.... I don't have skill, I don't have bravery.... Sara reminded me of how far I have come, how much I have accomplished, how much I've learned in five years.... and her vote of confidence in me filters through to my subconcious when I am with my horses... she is so awesome that she has become a good friend, comes over to visit with us, has made friends with my horses and is just all the way around a good energy friend for me... she helped me work through some of my schtuff... thanks Sara~!!